↳ MY STORy

I'm Sarah (she/her), a brand designer based out of San Francisco with over nine years of experience in advertising, graphic design and digital media.

I love building brand worlds through design systems, integrated campaigns and customer experiences, both online and IRL.

After hours you can find me enjoying the sunshine, curling up with my two cats, learning new things, or discovering new music.

senior brand designer

Coursera

2018 - 2021

Developed core elements of Coursera’s visual identity including color, typography, photography, iconography, motion, and illustration to create an iconic brand built on our values.
Led visual design through the entire design process, creating integrated brand campaigns built on business objectives and insights.
Prioritized diversity, inclusion, and accessibility by bringing empathy and cultural considerations into each design solution.
Initiated the creation of component-based systems, templates, toolkits, and guidelines for varying design abilities so colleagues across the org could scalably create the materials needed for their everyday work.
Inspired junior designers to elevate their craft by setting a high bar for creativity and quality.
Mentored junior designers on how to clearly communicate design rationale and give feedback through team design critiques that encouraged idea-sharing.
Delegated projects to junior designers based on their strengths, interests, and bandwidth. Identified stretch assignments to create growth opportunities.
Partnered with teammates and cross-functional partners to transform abstract ideas into compelling visual narratives for campaigns.
Strategized with fellow designers, writers, strategists, engineers, and product and marketing managers to up-level creative and find opportunities to tell a cohesive brand story across the entire user experience.

brand designer

Coursera

2016 - 2018

Thrived in a fast-paced startup environment while self-directing multiple projects at a time, quickly grasping complex briefs to provide on-brand solutions.
Crafted engaging visuals and digital experiences for a wide range of projects across many surfaces including web, social channels, internal comms and events while ensuring every touchpoint was cohesive, successful, and delightful.
Collaborated with marketing, product design, and growth teams to concept campaigns and evergreen assets for B2B and B2C audiences.
Owned projects end-to-end, from high-level strategic direction to production details, utilizing excellent craft, strong design sensibilities, and clear design rationales.
Iterated quickly and created multiple visual directions for testing purposes, optimizing designs based on testing data.
Championed good design as a brand steward with a critical eye for detail, driving brand consistency throughout the organization.
Fostered a growth mindset through experimentation, curiosity, and staying up-to-date with best practices and emerging technologies.

visual & Graphic designer

Holbrook Travel

2012 - 2016

Self-directed multiple projects and met tight deadlines while ensuring brand standards were maintained.
Created production-ready assets and worked directly with external vendors and agencies to complete design projects.
Up-leveled craft by developing an exceptional eye for layout, typography, hierarchy, color, patterns, and other design principles.
Built strong working relationships with team members and cross-functional partners.
Evolved the visual identity by providing new ideas to make content engaging and visually arresting.
Implemented visual systems for print and web to be used by the marketing team for consistent branding.

Personal values

Have a positive impact

🌎

Make life more playful

🌈

Uplift and celebrate others

🎉

Express yourself authentically

🦄

Challenge the status quo

🤘

Personal strengths

I'm curious

🧐

I'm intuitive

✨

I'm a little weird

👩‍🎤

I care deeply

💗

I value integrity

⚖️

Things that bring me joy

Dancing

💃

Meeting new animals

😻

Thrifting

👚

Live concerts

🎸

Fresh fruit

🍓

Beach days

🏖

↳ Expertise

I craft thoughtful design solutions that champion brand and business outcomes through visual storytelling. Below are some of my areas of expertise

As a design leader my goal is to inspire a culture of excellence by mentoring designers and partners in creative collaboration and best practices. I ensure the long-term scalability and efficiency of team processes and tools with a systems thinking approach to my decision making.

Accessible + inclusive design

Asset management

Brand evangelism

Budgeting resources

Coaching junior designers

Critique & feedback

Future-focused

Process improvement

Scalable design systems

Shaping design vision

Strategic thinking

Talent management

Training & playbooks

I build relationships and partner with teams across an organization to enhance the user experience and I'm just as comfortable working on loose, broadly-defined concepts as I am executing on tactical deliverables.

Research + discovery

Simplifying complexity

Rapid learning + ideation + iteration

Business sense

Relationship management

Systems thinking

X-functional collaboration

I love learning the latest tools, techniques and trends to deliver best-in-class, dynamic visual experiences. Here are some of the tools I like using.